What is Global English?

chillibreeze writer — Sweta Sharma

The Development

The 20th and 21st centuries gave birth to one of the most remarkable phenomena in the field of literature: the development of English as a global language. This has been the first instance in the history of human society that a distinct language has become so widespread that it can be used as a global mode of communication between multi lingual speakers. If we look at English and its development, it can be divided into three phases: Old English (Between 450 and 1100 AD), Middle English (Between 1100 and circa 1600 AD), and Modern English (since the 1600 century). However, Global English characterizes a new and fourth phase in which its foremost use around the world is among the non-native speakers. This phase has been marked by recent developments giving status and linguistic form to the English language. In the next 10-15 years we might be in a situation where people around the world speak English.

Global English has been a result of recent economic developments, especially globalization, and recent advancements in communications technology. Although, there were some English colonies established in the 17th and 12th centuries in Wales, Ireland, and North America and so on, it was mainly due to British colonial expansion in the 19th century that English served as a second language in many countries in South-East Asia, West and East Africa and South Asia. This gave emergence to new types of English that evolved from contact with the local languages.

The Nature of the English Language in the 21st Century

As a lingua franca, Global English can be described as a means of communication among speakers of different languages. However, it does not imply that it has become a new customary language. The specific domains of Global English lie within the many dispersed specialist communities such as air traffic control, microbiology, international finance, etc. However, normal average speakers outside these domains cannot understand this language.

Here, we shall look at the two terms very common during our century.

The term localization means adapting a translation to be able-bodied in a local culture's model of language convention. Take an example. A training manual being dispatched to Europe might be in printed in a special European edition. A manual that is confined to a small area is vernacular: It articulates to the spectators in a proverbial style, with local turn of phrase.

In contrast, globalization involves editing a document before translating it. This means editing original English text so that it will be uncomplicated to translate into other languages. Although the original document might seem lucid to a native English speaker, it probably contains phrases that cannot be easily translated.

Written English that is projected for international allotment can be as epigrammatic as a few short phrases in black and white on the packing box of a computer to highlight the new features. Or it may be a complete document, varying from a small brochure that explains commands to use a musical keyboard to a large manual explaining how to preserve and refurbish a commercial rocket. In each of these cases, the English should be written in a clear and non-region or non-country specific style.

One way to understand this from the viewpoint of users is: Localization petitions to empathy by integrating unstated aspects of a specific culture, while Global English endeavors for general user-friendliness by making text as unequivocal as possible.

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—About our writer:

Sweta writes for chillibreeze.

What is Global English?

The Development

The Nature of the English Language in the 21st Century

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